Sunday, October 27, 2024
Saturday, October 26, 2024
A Collector's Guide to 1898 Documentary Printed Precancels: Kahului Railroad Follow-up
The day after posting the Kahului Railroad printed precanceled stamp, a seller on Ebay from Golubie, Poland, listed two stamps that appear to be examples of Kahului Railroad handstamp cancels:
Thursday, October 24, 2024
A Collector's Guide to 1898 Documentary Printed Precancels: The Kahului Railroad?
From Frank Sente's collection is this example of a possible railroad printed precancel. This stamp and cancel was not included in Richard Fullerton's 1952 list, or in the lists of Clarence Chappell or Charles Metz; my guess is that it was either 1) unknown at the time by any of these gentleman, 2) adjudged to be of questionable legitimacy, or 3) not yet in existence by the middle of the 20th century.
Tuesday, October 22, 2024
A Collector's Guide to 1898 Documentary Printed Precancels: The Rexford Clift Cancel
And we have clear evidence that he was involved with precancels to the point that he had dedicated stationery for the purpose. Mr. Clift likely knew the local postmaster and had him make a few of these cancels as favor. Are there more of these cancels in circulation? Perhaps a multiple?
Sunday, October 20, 2024
A Collector's Guide to 1898 Documentary Printed Precancels: The Mimeographed Cancels
If anybody has other stamps with cancels like these, or others that appear to be mimeographed cancels, please let me know at 1898revenues@gmail.com.
Saturday, October 19, 2024
A Collector's Guide to 1898 Documentary Printed Precancels: The Curious and Ambiguous Cancels of Woodstock, Vermont
Thursday, October 17, 2024
A Collector's Guide to 1898 Documentary Printed Precancels: the Non-precancels of Elgin National Watch
Tuesday, October 15, 2024
A Collector's Guide to 1898 Documentary Printed Precancels, the Non-Fullerton Cancels: The Possible Proprietary Cancel of Charles E. Cornell
Charles E. Cornell was a manufacturer of products that required the payment of proprietary taxes during the 1898 tax period, including cosmetic soaps and other skin products. His printed precancel is known on the five eighths cent proprietary, and a similar cancel is also known on the half cent documentary. The question is whether or not the half cent stamp below is that of Mr. Cornell. It appears to be printed, but it also might be a handstamp. This cancel belongs in a category of cancels requiring further proof or documentation.
Sunday, October 13, 2024
A Collector's Guide to 1898 Documentary Printed Precancels, the Non-Fullerton Cancels: The Proprietary Cancel of Dr. Fahrney & Son
Saturday, October 12, 2024
A Collector's Guide to 1898 Documentary Printed Precancels, the Non-Fullerton Cancels: The Proprietary Cancel of E. S. Wells
E. S. Wells made nostrums for humans including medicines for corns, toothaches, and itching. But the company might have been best known for rat poison. I've featured this company and these stamps on this site back in 2014. Follow the link to learn more. Today the focus is on the stamps and their cancels. E. S. Wells is the first of several proprietary product companies to be presented here that used printed precancels on the proprietary series of stamps that also applied precancels to documentary stamps.
The known use of their cancel on documentary stamps is on the two cent battleship; the company used its electrotyped cancel of 1898 and adapted it for 1899 by planing off part of the bottom loop of the 8 of 1898. The block below is the only known example I know of. An example of their cancel on the 5/8 cent proprietary is provided below.
As with the Provident Savings Life and the bond cancels, the E. S. Wells cancels are not included included in Fullerton's list; Fullerton contained his list only to railroad-related printed precancels.
Thursday, October 10, 2024
A Collector's Guide to 1898 Documentary Printed Precancels, the Non-Fullerton Cancels: the United New Jersey Railroad & Canal Company
Tuesday, October 8, 2024
A Collector's Guide to 1898 Printed Precancels, the Non-Fullerton Cancels: The Girard Trust Company
Sunday, October 6, 2024
A Collector's Guide to 1898 Documentary Printed Precancels, the Non-Fullerton Cancels: The Provident Savings Life Assurance Society
The Provident Savings Life Assurance Society (PSLAS) produced the most significant array of printed precancels of any company, including railroads. Because they were in a very different business than the railroads and express companies, they were subject to different taxes, and made regular use of different stamp values. PSLAS primarily sold life insurance, which was taxed at eight cents per $100 insured. In addition, forty percent was to be paid on the first weekly premium for any life insurance policy. A result of these taxes was that insurance companies made frequent use of the 40 and 80 cent documentary stamps in addition to the dollar documentaries to cover the taxes on larger life policies.
PSLAS printed precancels have been identified on six different stamps, including the 40 cent and 80 cent documentaries, and the Scott R173, R174, R175 and R182 dollar values. The cancels consist of a solid outer circle, 20mm in diameter, a thinner inner circle, and PROVIDENT SAVINGS LIFE inscribed in an arc inside the inner circle. The cancels come in either black or red depending on the stamp denomination except for the forty cent stamp, which is known with both black and red cancels. Shades of orange red may also be found on the 40 cent stamps.
Of the stamps I have seen that have dates, all appear to have been canceled sometime in 1900. By 1900, R173 and R174 were issued with hyphen-hole perforations, and the PSLAS printed cancels are only known with HH perfs on those stamps. Though the 40 and 80 cent stamps were also issued with HH perforations, I have not found the PSLAS cancel on those stamps.
PSLAS also produced other cancels that were not printed but were likely precancels; a 40 cent stamp is known with a PSLAS perfin and the R175 and R176 dollar value stamps are known with handstamps in black that are similar in appearance to the printed cancels. Examples of these cancels are shown below.
Saturday, October 5, 2024
A Collector's Guide to 1898 Documentary Printed Precancels: Non-Fullerton List Cancels
In 1952, Richard Fullerton confined his 1898 documentary printed cancel list to the precancels of railroads and railroad-related express companies in addition to two philatelically suspicious street railways. In a previous post in this series (and the August 2024 American Philatelist) I've highlighted a railroad missed by Fullerton that was a part of family of railroads included in his list, the Tyler Southeastern Railway. I also added many varieties and types that were not listed by Fullerton. The upcoming series of posts, however, will highlight a range of Fullerton unlisted items that range from railroads to insurance companies, mimeo cancels seeking a proper identification, philatelic contrivances, and cancels that appear to be precancels but are not. Stay tuned!